Change
by Lindsey Dylan
Summary: .:KAINORA:. Change doesn't always have to end in goodbye, and goodbye doesn't necessarily mean forever.


**Hey guys! I just finished re-watching the LOK Book 4 trailer for, like, the 100th time today, and it looks epic! I can't wait. I haven't been this excited since the finale of Avatar: TLA. If there's one thing I'm hoping for this season, it's a Kainora kiss... that, or Kai and Jinora are finally couple. I kinda like the new airbender uniforms, but I feel like I'll miss the old ones. I mean, it's like getting rid of all the memories of the old Gaang. **

**Anyways, I'm assuming that Kai has been stationed somewhere far away from Jinora since there hasn't been any scenes featuring them together in the trailer. But who knows? Maybe they'll get together later on in the season. And Meelo has hair! I literally freaked out over that when I saw him, and now I'm just imagining Tenzin with that long, hippy-dippy kind of hair too. I don't know why, so don't ask because i'm just weird like that.**

**Now, without further ado, let us move to the disclaimer so we can get this show on the road.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE LEGEND OF KORRA IN ANYWAYS AT ALL! (I wish I did though. If I did... then I don't know what I would do.)_  
><em>**

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><p><em><strong>~CHANGE~<strong>_

_A farewell is necessary before we can meet again, _

_and meeting again after moments or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends._

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><p>Kai wasn't sure what to think of the new uniform. He liked his <em>old<em> uniform. He didn't see why he needed _new_ ones. "You still haven't changed?"

Kai's head snapped around toward his door. Jinora had an eyebrow raised and her hands placed on her hips. She wore a form-fitting jumpsuit with wings attached to the arms that resembled the wings of a winged lemur. He knew that Tenzin wouldn't like it if he saw the way Kai looked at his daughter in her new uniform. Kai couldn't help it though. The new uniform looked really good on her. She also looked really beautiful in that shade of red, too. "I think I'll just stick to my old uniform." Kai shrugged. He leaned back onto his bed as Jinora walked over. She sat at the edge of his bed by his feet, picking at an imaginary piece of lint on the comforter.

"Change is hard." Jinora sighed, frowning. "It's hard for me, too."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Kai muttered. He watched her closely, noting how she avoided his gaze. She shifted, bringing her knees up to her chest tightly. Kai sat up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you OK?"

"... Yeah... I'm OK." Jinora sniffed, placing her own hand over his. She turned her head to look at him, and Kai looked at the glassy look in her eyes. "I have to go."

"Jinora, wait- Come back!" Kai called as his best friend quickly stood up and rushed out of his room.

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><p>Kai knew there was no beating around the bush. They had to talk about it sometime, but they always ended up procrastinating instead. Whether he liked it or not, change was going to happen either way. There was no stopping it. He just hoped that change would stay away from his friendship with Jinora. It was the one thing that he cherished and greatly, deeply valued. Jinora was his confidant, and vice versa. There wasn't one thing that they didn't know about the other. The nights when they would both sneak out to gaze at the stars together had brought them closer. The sunsets that they would watch from underneath their usual hangout spot: A rather large, and very tall, moon-peach tree on top of a big, lonely hill. It was sad to think that they wouldn't be able to do those things together anymore.<p>

He heard the sound of laughter coming from the training area as he walked by. He watched as Ikki and Meelo chased each other, while little Rohan sat with his mother Pema and giggled. "Kai!" Meelo grinned, hopping onto an air-scooter. He zoomed over to Kai with Ikki following suit and Rohan attempting to crawl after them both. Pema laughed and scooped up her baby, walking over to the young, tan-skinned boy with dark hair.

"Hey." Kai grinned back, ruffling up the growing black hair on Meelo's used-to-be-bald head. "Have you seen Jinora?"

"No." Pema shook her head with furrowed eyebrows. "I thought she was with you."

"She was, but then she left and now I don't know where she went." Kai replied.

"Did something happen between you and Jinora?" Ikki asked. "Did you two breakup? Did you breakup with her, or did she breakup with you? Is this gonna be like when Mako dated Asami and then he broke up with her to be with Korra, but then he broke up with Korra because he dating Asami again? Wait- where you and Jinora even-"

"Ikki, that's enough." Pema was quick to chastise her youngest daughter after seeing the look on Kai's face. "But, I kind of want to know too. Did something happen between you two?"

"Not exactly, but it's something we kind of need to talk about... _together..."_ Kai explained.

"Is it about you being assigned to patrol over that village in Yi?" Meelo asked. Kai nodded. Pema shot Kai a sympathetic.

"Well, we're sorry but we really have no clue as to where Jinora went or where she may be." Pema placed a hand on Kai's shoulder. "But I'm sure you and Jinora will figure this out."

Kai nodded and turned to walk away.

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><p>Kai wasn't ready to face the wrath of Tenzin. Nor did he want to waste time doing so. The man had his arms folded over his chest and he was tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. "Kai!" Tenzin snapped. "What did you do to my daughter? Why did I see her come running through here crying?"<p>

"You saw her?" Kai asked. "Which way did she go?"

"That's not important, my little girl was crying her eyes out just moments ago and I want to know what happened." Tenzin had a stubborn look on his face. Kai sighed in annoyance and frustration.

"Like I told, Ikki and Meelo before, it's something she and I need to talk about." Kai replied. Tenzin slowly lowered his arms to his sides and nodded his head as his eyes glazed over with understanding. Kai waited silently for Tenzin to make his next move. He shifted as Tenzin continued to look down at him.

"I know it'll be hard not to have your best friend around all the time." Tenzin put a hand on Kai's shoulder. Kai looked up at his former mentor. "And I understand the sadness that you must be feeling right now. To be frank, I haven't seen my daughter so happy around someone else. The only other kids she's ever known were her Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. I can imagine that she feels the same way you do."

"It'll be weird for me to say this, since I'm talking to you, but… I'm going to really miss Jinora." Kai sighed.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Tenzin asked.

"I like talking to her, I like hanging out with her, I take pride in making her laugh whenever your back was turned..." Kai said. Tenzin smiled, choosing to ignore that last part.

"It's actually refreshing to see Jinora around another kid, other than her siblings." Tenzin commented. "Well, she also used to hang around that street urchin... what was his name again? Itchy... Sketchy... Skoochy, but then she stopped seeing him for some reason. She hasn't had an actual friend since, but I don't think she cared for him the way she cares about you."

"So... which way did she go?" Kai asked hopefully.

"I believe I saw her head toward that tree you two always seemed to like sitting under." Tenzin replied. Kai nodded his head in gratitude and quickly took off.

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><p>Kai wondered how long Jinora had been sitting underneath that the tree. She had changed out of her new uniform and into her old one. She sat on the grass in silence, hiding her face while hugging her knees to her chest. Her back shook violently. It was then that Kai knew she was crying. Quietly, Kai sat behind her, but not to close. He leaned against the bark of the tree, where they had carved their names. The wind-chimes they had hung on the branches emanated a peaceful melody as a soft breeze gently ran by, whispering in their ears. Petals fell from above and were scattered around the grass. "I guess everyone has to say goodbye sometimes." Jinora sniffled.<p>

"We don't have to be part of _everyone,_ why can't we just be _Jinora and Kai_?" Kai asked.

"Because _Jinora and Kai _are no different than everyone else." She replied. Kai stood up to walk over and sat down right beside her. He placed his hands on her shoulders. However, Jinora shook them off and stood up to walk away from him. He could tell that she was trying to close herself off from him, judging by her body language.

"I don't like it either, but we have to accept it I guess." Kai said.

"I'm losing my best friend!" Jinora cried. "There's no way I'll be able to accept that!"

"How are you 'losing' your best friend?" Kai asked.

"I won't get to see you whenever I want." Jinora sniffled. "You'll be off in Yi, I'll be stuck here in Republic. We won't get to hangout and talk like we usually do... I would give up all of my books if I could just see you every day." She whispered.

"I'm touched, but that's going a little overboard." Kai joked lightly. Jinora gave Kai a watery smile, before lunging at him. She tackled him into a hug, clutching his shirt tightly in her hands. He could feel the fabric beginning to dampen as Jinora's body began shaking again with muffled sobs. Kai put his arms around and held her tightly against him. It was supposed to comfort her, but she only cried harder. "You know, I should count myself lucky."

"Why?" Jinora asked.

"I have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Kai smiled.

"And what would that be?" Jinora asked. Before they knew it, they were gazing into each other's eyes. Absentmindedly, they started leaning in. Kai's hand had found its way to her cheek and his lips slowly brushed over hers.

"You." He whispered against her soft lips. Jinora wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and their lips finally met. Kai could feel the wetness on Jinora's cheeks and attempted to dry them with his thumb while his other arm wrapped around her waist. They pulled away and simply embraced each other once more.

"I'm going to miss you." Jinora muttered shakily.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Kai pressed his forehead against hers.

"Promise me that you'll write to me... to wherever I am?" She pleaded with those eyes of hers.

"I'll write everyday if it'll make you happy." He nodded.

"Thank you, that's all I ask." Jinora sighed sadly. They swayed together, Jinora picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of Kai's shirt. Kai had intertwined their fingers together and gently pressed his lips against the back of Jinora's hand.

"You're wrong, by the way." Kai muttered.

"About what?" Jinora murmured.

"_Jinora and Kai _are different from everyone else." Kai stated. Jinora looked at him from over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised. "When people say '_goodbye',_ they disappear from each other's lives. But when we say '_goodbye',_ we're just getting ready to say _'hi'_ all over again."

Jinora smiled sadly, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Nothing could ever change our friendship, not even distance." Jinora agreed, letting her tears fall loose. Kai nodded.

"Bye, Jinora."

"Goodbye, Kai..."

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><p><em><strong>~FIN~<strong>_

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><p><strong>I'm sure we've all been in that position once or twice, where we have to say goodbye to someone important in our lives: A friend, a parent, a family member, a husband, etc. I thought that maybe I could target that topic. Goodbye doesn't always have to mean forever... unless you want it to. Wherever there's a 'goodbye', 'hello' is sure to follow.<strong>

**So, I kind of felt like crying after I wrote this. I mean, the feels, man. The feels. Plus, I remembered the day when my best friend moved away. It was a beautiful day too. Perfect weather with not a single cloud in the sky. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this. R&R please! No flames. Criticism will be gladly welcomed and accepted.**

_**~L. Dylan~**_


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